Improvement in fruit-gatherers



J. VAIL.

`Fruit-Garherer.

No. 45,095. Patented Nov. 15, 1864.

UNITED STATES ATENT enten.

JACOB VAIL, OF NE'WFIELD, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT lN FRUlTGTl-l ERERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 415,095, dated November l5, 1364.

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, JACOB VAIL, ot' Newield, in the county ot' Tompkins and State of New York, have invented anew and Improved Device for Gathering Fruit; and I do hereby declare the following to be at'ull and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure lis an elevation of my improved apparatus in use, the view being made partly in section. Fig. 2 is a plan.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the gures.

This invention consists in the employment ot1 a box in connection with a high standard or pole, a suspending-beam, blocks, cords, pulleys, and crank, the four devices last named enabling a person within the box to elevate himself within convenient reach of the fruit, and after plucking the same from one part of the tree and depositing it in the box he may shift his position either vertically or horizontally, and thus strip the entire tree, as will be hereinafter fully explained.

In order vthat others skilled in the art to which my invention appertains may be cnabled to fully understand and use the same, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

In the drawings, the red lines may represent the tree from which the fruit is to bc plucked.

A A is a rigid standard or pole, the end of which is inserted into the ground at the bottom ol the tree, and which is securely retained in the position shown in Fig. 1 by a band or strap, a., which encircles the pole and the trunk of the tree. The pole is formed in two parts, A A', respectively, joined together at the socket a', and is thus constructed to facilitate its erection, and ofthe parts A' being employed alone in connection with low trees, for which purposes the two parts oi' the poles are adapted to be disconnected.

B is a beam, which is attached to the pole by meansci' a socket, b, ttin g over said pole, and brace-rods C G,the rods C hooking over a projection, a2, on the top of the pole, and the two together serving to sustain the beams and the weight which is appended thereto.

The rod C is madeiast to the outer end of the beam B by means of an eyebolt, b.

U is a box, large enough to permit a person to stand within and operate the crank D, and constitutes a depository for the fruit, which is received by the box as fast as picked. The crank D rotates a windlass, D', upon which may be wound or unwound a cord or tackle, E, which also works over pulley-blocks E E and a pulley, c, at the bottoni ot' the box C. The pulley-blocks E E are attached respectively to the bails c of the box C and to a bracket, j', in which latter is journaled a pulley7 F, which traverses a slot, b2, in the beam B. The windlass D is journaled in stantiards D2, which occupy a central position within the box O.

G is a cord, whereby the pulley F may be caused to approach or recede from the trunk oi the tree. The fruit-picker operates the cord from within the box C while the latter is in a state of suspension, and as the upper point ot' suspcnsioinj", of the box G is varied with the movement ot' the pulley F, the box undergoes a corresponding change iu position. The truitpicker thus has ready access to the fruit which muy be located between the trunk or center of the tree and the exterior thereof.

The operation ot' the'apparatus will be readily understood from thei'oregoing description.

'The fruit-picker gets into the box while it is upon the ground, and by turning the crank elevatcs himself, with the box, to the lower branches of the tree. The socket b,as well as the rod U', permits the beam B to turn upon the pole in a horizontal plane, so that the person within the box C has only to grasp the branches of the treeto move the box around from one position to another. Then the fruit has been plucked from the lower branches of the tree, the crank is turned, and the box ascends to a higher point. Thus the box is ele- "ated and moved around the tree until it is stripped or the desired quantity of fruit is obtained, the crank D being reversed at intervals in order to lower the box and remove the fruit therefrom.

Having thus described my inventi0n,the following is what I claim as new therein and de sire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. The employment of the box C, elevated 3. In combination with the box G, for gathin the manner described, and suspended from erin g fruit, the arrangement ofthe block and the beamB b so as to be turned about the eentackle E E', windlass D', crank D, and pulle7 trai pole or standarcLA, inthe manner and for e, substantially as described. the purpose explained. A

2. The pulley F, operated bythe cord G and JACOB VAIL' adapted to traverse the slot 112,[0 move the Witnesses: box C toward or away from the center of the I C. D. SMITH. tree7 as and for the purpose set forth. R. N. EAGLE. 

